Jimmy Cornell (born Dragoș Corneliu Cișmașu; 1940 in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) is a Romanian-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

yachtsman, bestselling author of ''World Cruising Routes'', among other books and the founder of the World Cruising Club.

Biography

Jimmy Cornell was born in

in 1940, growing up in

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

. After studying Economics at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

he emigrated to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1969 with his

wife Gwenda.WorldCat
/ref> He took up sailing as a hobby whilst working as a reporter for the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. In 1975 Cornell, leaving from the coast of

, started a voyage around the world, with Gwenda and their two children (Doina, aged 7, and Ivan, aged 5). It ended up lasting 6 years, taking them to 70 countries and encompassing 68,000 miles. Cornell sent back regular radio reports to the BBC World Service throughout the voyage, which was to become the first of three circumnavigations he has completed totalling over 200,000 miles afloat. In 1986 Cornell set up the

Atlantic Rally for Cruisers The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (''ARC'') is an annual transatlantic sailing event for cruiser yachts held since 1986. It also includes a sailing competition for racers. The ARC starts at the end of November in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and end ...

(ARC), in which cruising yachtsmen who want to complete a transatlantic crossing sail together in loose convoy. Following the success of the first ARC, Cornell founded the World Cruising Club and organized a few other events: the Blue Planet Odyssey, the Atlantic Odyssey, and the European Odyssey. Cornell also wrote the book ''World Cruising Routes''; first published in 1987 by

Adlard Coles Nautical Adlard Coles Nautical is a nautical publisher, with over 300 books in print. The company publishes books on topics of interest to sailors and motorboaters and also ‘landlubbers’ with an interest in the sea. Their list includes almanacs, crui ...

, it has gone on to sell 150,000 copies.

World Cruising Routes

One of Cornell's most important successes is the book ''World Cruising Routes'', written with the intention of helping other long distance sailors on trips around the world. The first edition was published in 1987 by

, having sold more than 150,000 copies, throughout its nine editions, World Cruising Routes has established itself as a "de facto" bible for long-distance navigators for more than 25 years. It is a book designed to plan cruises anywhere in the world, with a planning guide for almost 1,000 navigation routes through all the oceans of the world, from the icy latitudes of the Arctic and the Antarctic to the southern tropical seas, with more than 6,000 landmarks to help mariners plan individual routes, assessing the effects of global warming on cruise routes. Being oriented to the specific needs of the cruise navigators, it contains information about the winds, the currents, the regional and seasonal climate, as well as suggestions about the optimal schedules for the individual routes, although it should be used together with the Regional Sailing Directions, according to Cruising World that defines it as: "The most important book for long distance travelers in decades", actually, since the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

1895 book: '' Ocean Passages for the World''.

Books

After the success of ''World Cruising Routes'' (1st edition, 1987), Cornell has written several companion books: * ''World Cruising Routes'' (7th edition), 2014, Adlard Coles Nautical, * ''World Cruising Handbook'' (3rd edition), 2001, Adlard Coles Nautical, * ''A Passion for the Sea'', 2009, Adlard Coles Nautical, * ''World Cruising Destinations'', 2010, Adlard Coles Nautical, * ''Cornell’s Ocean Atlas'', 2011, Cornell Sailing Ltd (with Ivan Cornell), * ''World Voyage Planner'', 2012, Adlard Coles Nautical,

References

External links

World cruising routes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell, Jimmy Maritime writers 1940 births Living people Romanian emigrants to the United Kingdom University of Bucharest alumni